Category Archives: chicanery

Bipartisan House Ethics Warning About Members and Their Staffs Circulating Deep Fakes

January 29, 2020, 8:22 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

New memo (via Brian Svoboda): However, intentional distortions of audio and/or visual representations can be far more damaging. Members have a duty, and a First Amendment right, to contribute to the public discourse, including through parody and satire. However,… Continue reading

“The Technology 202: Pinterest bans misinformation about voting and the census”

January 29, 2020, 8:14 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WaPo reports.

“American voters worry they can’t spot misleading information, poll finds”

January 23, 2020, 8:17 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

PBS: The new survey from PBS NewsHour, NPR and Marist Poll found that 59 percent of Americans say it is hard to identify false information — intentionally misleading and inaccurate stories portrayed as truth — on social media. Another… Continue reading

“Tech Companies Volunteer to Beef Up Presidential Campaigns’ Cybersecurity”

January 23, 2020, 8:15 amcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

WSJ: Nearly a dozen technology companies said they will provide free or reduced-cost cybersecurity services to presidential campaigns, which experts and intelligence officials have warned are ripe targets for intrusion and disinformation.They join a growing number of firms … Continue reading

“Lev Parnas Paid His Way Into Donald Trump’s Orbit”

January 20, 2020, 8:26 amcampaign finance, chicaneryRick Hasen

WSJ: After Donald Trump’s election, Lev Parnas saw a chance to cash in on his connections.The Florida businessman and Trump donor was courting investors for a real-estate project. He took one of them, Roman Nasirov, at the time the head… Continue reading

“FBI plans to notify states about local election breaches”

January 17, 2020, 7:16 amchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

AP reports.

“Democrats sound election security alarm after Russia’s Burisma hack”

January 15, 2020, 8:36 amchicaneryDan Tokaji

The Hill: Congressional Democrats are raising fresh concerns about 2020 election security following a report this week that Russian military officers hacked Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian gas company at the center of President Trump’s impeachment.Several Democratic lawmakers are… Continue reading

“Digital Threats on 2020 Elections”

January 12, 2020, 7:20 amchicanery, political polarizationDan Tokaji

NPR interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan. An excerpt: MARTIN: So moving forward in 2020, as where we sit right now – obviously, it’s an election year in the United States. And I assume most Americans are very interested and concerned in… Continue reading

“‘Chaos Is the Point’: Russian Hackers and Trolls Grow Stealthier in 2020”

January 10, 2020, 9:25 amchicaneryDan Tokaji

Must-read report in today’s NYT: The National Security Agency and its British counterpart issued an unusual warning in October: The Russians were back and growing stealthier.Groups linked to Russia’s intelligence agencies, they noted, had recently been uncovered boring into… Continue reading

“U.S. Probes If Russia Is Targeting Biden in 2020 Election Meddling”

January 10, 2020, 9:20 amchicaneryDan Tokaji

Bloomberg Politics: ” U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are assessing whether Russia is trying to undermine Joe Biden in its ongoing disinformation efforts with the former vice president still the front-runner in the race to challenge President Donald… Continue reading

Breaking: “Facebook sticking with policies on politicians’ lies and voter targeting”

January 9, 2020, 4:20 amchicaneryDan Tokaji

From Politico: Facebook is standing by its policies that allow politicians to lie to voters, while targeting their ads at narrow subsets of the public — decisions with vast implications for the more than $1 billion in online campaign… Continue reading

House Hearing on Digital Manipulation and Deception

January 8, 2020, 10:55 amchicaneryDan Tokaji

The Hill on today’s hearing “Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age,” before the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce: Facebook’s global policy chief faced tough questions before a House panel on Wednesday as lawmakers voiced… Continue reading

Galston on Deepfakes

January 8, 2020, 4:16 amchicanery, political polarizationDan Tokaji

From the Brookings report, “Is seeing still believing? The deepfake challenge to truth in politics,” with a nod to the Marx Brothers’ classic Duck Soup: If AI is reaching the point where it will be virtually impossible to detect… Continue reading